Feb 4 (DM) The first PM of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) D.S. Senanayake entered the National Legislature in 1924. He was relatively unknown in the country and was pushed into prominence by his elder brother F.R. Senanayake, who was a very popular and active figure in the social and political arena. Many were surprised and taken aback to see D.S. entering the political field, as they were expecting his brother F.R. to fit the role. more..

Feb 4 (DM) Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains. To reflect on these words of the 18th century Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, there is no greater occasion than a Freedom Day anniversary. As SL celebrates its 74th Freedom Day, we need to understand what freedom is and what these chains that restrict our freedoms are. The opening sentence of Rousseau�s seminal work The Social Contract � Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains � more..

Feb 4 (Island) Just as Cassandra sat down to word process her weekly Cry on Tuesday (1), she heard fighter jets, or whatever stream pass, with a violent noise. This was heard for the past four days and it is in rehearsal for the great event on Feb 4, when we are supposed to celebrate our 74th Independence Day. Of course, it is now termed National Day, calling for national-mindedness and loyalty to the country. Cass has been hearing about shortages these days and feared petrol shortage too. more..

Feb 4 (CT) Feb 2nd is World Wetlands Day the date on which the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was adopted in 1971, in Ramsar, a city in Iran. The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and int'l cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. 170 countries have ratified the Ramsar Convention (including SL in 1990), more..

Feb 4 (CT) SL, since obtaining Independence from the British 74 years ago, has experienced three political and socioeconomic epochs of significance to date, making those events as important as Independence Day 4 Feb 1948, for better or for worse. Those three events are the 26-year-long war against LTTE terrorists, the open economy and the present socioeconomic status of the country. which threatens the economic freedoms won and thereby making the political freedom enjoyed by more..

Feb 4 (Island) The govt has pulled out all the stops to hold the Independence Day celebrations on a grand scale while the country is sinking deeper into crisis. Today, political leaders will arrive at the Independence Square, in their limousines, puff out their chests and sing the national anthem with gusto. There will be a colourful parade with the military flaunting its assets. A fly-past will be the main attraction of the event. Political rhetoric will burst forth. We see this grand show yr in yr out. more..

Feb 4 (CT) News in the grapevine is not good. As a matter of fact, it has not been favorable to the Rajapaksas for the last two years. Mahinda, the eldest, is not well. He is sick, can hardly walk without an aid. The prognosis is not auspicious either. Gotabaya, our President is imbalanced, control over his tongue is rather uncontrolled. Basil, the fake wizard of finance, is corrupt. For that matter, all the Rajapaksas are corrupt beyond debate and beyond limits. more..

Feb 4 (CT) Postcolonial SL has become worse than it was during the colonial period. The sad history of Feb 4th � the day of independence to the Sinhalese has turned out to be a Black Day to the Tamils. The Citizenship Act of 1948 � 49 and the state sponsored settlements of Sinhala people in the areas where Tamils were dominant are applied together as a tool of the fear of extinction by successive govts. The Tamils believed that the settlements were aimed at causing more..

Feb 4 (FT) Marking a milestone, Ceylon Cinnamon on Wednesday had received the country�s first-ever Geographical Indication (GI) certification and status from the European Union (EU) Commission. The outcome was a result of a painstaking, decade-long, arduous endeavour led by the EDB under the Ministry of Trade with the support of numerous public and private stakeholders. Daily FT on 28 Jan first reported the impending more..

Feb 4 (FT) COVID-19 vaccines were administered to 129,954 persons on Wednesday and 77.73% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose. Our World in Data states that 64.86% of the total population has received the second dose as well. 16,733,188 persons have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 13,958,389 persons have received the second dose. The booster dose has been administered to 5,468,208 persons. This includes 96,264 persons vaccinated on Wed. more..

Feb 4 (Island) Less than 24 hours after Suranga Lakmal announced his int'l retirement, English county Derbyshire declared a two year deal with the fast bowler. Lakmal has been the leader of the Test attack for a considerable period of time and the county�s younger players will enjoy his presence. Their coach Mickey Arthur surely knows what this man with a great character can offer Derbyshire. Ideally, SL would have wanted Lakmal to see through the current cycle of ICC Test C'ship. more..

Feb 4 (ST) Despite regular detection, SL�s sea paths are increasingly being used by local and international narcotics traffickers, investigations have revealed. The revelations came as latest statistics showed that most of the detections were made in operations at mid-sea. Last year, 1594 Kg of heroin was detected in the country and of them 1.2 million Kg was in operations carried out by the Navy together with the Police or the PNB. more..

Feb 4 (ST) Three separate inquiries are being carried out into parents� complaints that student who sat the recent Grade 5 Scholarship Exam at three centres in Galle, Welimada and Galgamuwa were given the papers late, had to handed them over early and were not allocated extra time to tackle the answers. Two investigations by the zonal and provincial education offices are being carried out on the instructions of the Education Minister and the Ministry Secretary. more..

Feb 4 (FT) SL�s COVID-19 case count rose to 614,659 with the detection of 1,181 COVID-19 patients yesterday. The patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster. The previous day, 1,150 persons from the New Year cluster and six SL overseas arrivals tested positive for COVID-19. 8,972 PCR tests and 7,660 rapid antigen tests were conducted on Wednesday. A total of 509,066 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,135 persons more..

Feb 4 (TM) Ministry of Finance has announced its intention to amend the Special Goods and Services Tax (Special GST) Bill providing for the collection of the Special GST tax by Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Sri Lanka Customs, and the Excise Dept instead of the newly established unit under the Ministry of Finance as previously envisioned. The AG�s Department presented to the Supreme Court of SL, during the hearing of the petitions more..

Feb 4 (FT) Iran Cultural Centre Colombo announced several initiatives next week to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Among them are the opening of the Iran Corner, unveiling of new books and an Iranian Film Festival on 7 Feb at 10 a.m. at the National Library, Colombo. Islamic Republic of Iran Ambassador Hashem Ashjaazdseh will be the Chief Guest. National Library Director General W. Sunil, Cultural Counsellor of Iran Bahman Moazamil and S.L. Madani will more..

Feb 4 (FT) The UNP on Wednesday said formulating national policies that concern majority of the people in the long run should be a priority of govt, adding that the next election can be held after 5 Feb 2023, as per the legal provisions. �A national election is required to resolve the current crises faced by the country. The national policies should be taken forward by govts for at least 15-20 years as a country will only succeed if all political parties work towards a national cause,� more..

Feb 4 (FT) Miss International UK Evanjelin Elchmanar arrived yesterday in SL to join hands with Sri Lanka Tourism and make her contribution to promote SL in the UK. She is a British citizen hailing from the City of Birmingham and she was able to win this achievement competing against more than 50 other British Individuals. Born to SL parents, Evanjelin Elchmanar can be considered as an asset to SL, since she was the first woman of colour to win the prestigious Miss International UK title. more..

Feb 4 (Island) Siyapatha Finance PLC, a fully owned subsidiary of Sampath Bank PLC, recently signed a MoU with DIMO Agribusinesses, the agriculture arm of DIMO, one of the leading conglomerates in Sri Lanka, to provide exclusive leasing solutions for the consumers of DIMO Agri Machinery with an objective to uplift the local agriculture sector. Understanding the importance of the agricultural sector to the SL economy, Siyapatha Finance initiated this facility for the convenience more..

Feb 4 (DM) While claiming that the UK govt takes very seriously the allegations of torture and sexual violence in the report Sri Lanka: Torture and Sexual Violence by Security Forces 2020-2021, compiled by the report by the International Truth and Justice Project, Britain on Wednesday said that they have already raised serious concerns around the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka. more..

Feb 4 (FT) Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) yesterday warned the CEB of legal action for alleged misconduct, as several parts in the country experienced load shedding despite reassurance by the electricity regulator of uninterrupted supply. �The CEB has not requested approval for scheduled power outages on 3 Feb. If any such disruption to the power supply has occurred, it will be dealt with as per the provisions of the Sri Lanka Electricity Act,� PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said. more..

Feb 4 (FT) Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that on-arrival Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will be issued to tourists from several countries due to the technical glitch experienced by travellers who are applying through the online system. �Immigration and Emigration Department has informed that the tourists from the certain countries, who are unsuccessful in making credit card payments for ETA to travel to SL, due to the ongoing upgrade and maintenance of the ETA front end system, more..

Feb 4 (TM) National Catholic Social Communication Centre Director Rev. Cyril Gamini Fernando said that the Catholic church does not comprehend why the sacristan of the All Saints� Church in Borella, Francis Munindran, is still being held in custody, although it appears that he was not involved in the incident of a hand grenade being found placed in the said church. He said: �A few days ago, a hand grenade was found more..

Feb 4 (DN) SL T20 cricket team led by Dasun Shanaka left for Australia yesterday early morning to take part in the 5-match T20 series which is scheduled to commence from Feb 11. However, the Sri Lanka team is facing its biggest challenge with a few players who have tested positive for COVID-19 before this tour. Earlier, interim coach Rumesh Ratnayake, fast bowler Nuwan Thushara, and trainer Dilshan Fonseka had tested positive while all rounder Chamika Karunaratne had been more..

Feb 4 (TM) As of yesterday, more than 75 out of the 325 Covid-19-infected patients receiving treatment at the National Hospital of SL (NHSL) in Colombo were dependent on supplemental oxygen (O2) with the majority of ICU patients being unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated with the booster third dose, according to the NHSL�s Dr. Harsha Sathischandra. He also said that many of the Covid-19 patients being treated in the ICU had either not been vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccines or more..

Feb 4 (DM) Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa put his foot in his mouth this week when he made a startling revelation to a Sinhala newspaper stating that during the height of SL's civil war, SL had purchased weapons from North Korea using dollars sourced from the Black Market, a statement which the army is clearly unaware of. Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka, who was the Army Commander at the height of SL's civil war said last evening that as far as weapons purchased for the SL Army more..

Feb 4 (DM) Ahead of the festive season, the importers of essential food commodities have sought a meeting with Secretary to the Prez Gamini Senarath to make sure that US $ 175-200 million is released every month to avert a shortage. A spokesman for the Essential Food Commodities Importers� and Traders� Association said US dollars had not yet been released to pay for nearly 1,500 containers of various products stuck at the port. Asserting that there is no shortage of more..

Feb 4 (TM) In the backdrop of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa being scheduled to pardon 197 prisoners on the occasion of the national Independence Day which falls today, the main parliamentary Opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), expressed hope that actor and former SJB MP Ranjan Ramanayake, who is currently serving a four-year term of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court, more..

Feb 4 (FT) Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) will conduct a webinar series on Getting Over the Debt Problem Series No. 2 on Export Performance 2021 and Future Challenges to Drive Exports and Economic Development in the New Normal today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. via online Zoom platform. This webinar will project the importance of the export sector that has achieved $ 15.12 billion in 2021 surpassing the figures of 2020. This includes the main sectors of apparel more..

Feb 4 (DM) A total number of 480 Officers including 7 Senior Brigadiers and 8034 other ranks of the SL Army to be promoted to their next rank in view of 74th National Independence Day. The officers and other ranks were given promotions by Prez Rajapaksa on the recommendation of Army Commander Shavendra Silva. Accordingly, 7 Senior Brigadiers to the rank of Major General, 16 Colonels to the rank of Brigadier, 36 Lt. Colonels to the rank of Colonel, 50 Majors to rank of Lt. Colonels, more..

Feb 4 (FT) Medical professionals yesterday urged the public to get vaccinated, warning that the situation in the country was worsening with the spread of Omicron. According to College of Internal Medicine President and National Hospital Physician Dr. Harsha Satischandra, the country was nearing the situation faced with Delta spread. He explained that there are currently 325 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at the NHSL. more..

Feb 5 (DM) In a country of representative, multi-party democracy, it is conceivable that the waning of the popularity of the govt is the gain of the opposition. The govt no longer enjoys the kind of popularity it had previously. General disillusionment is all too obvious due to numerous issues affecting ordinary people such as the soaring cost of living and scarcity of essential items including the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking. In such a situation, the political field is well set for more..

Feb 5 (DM) One of Sri Lanka�s social stigmas has been the subtle or open discrimination against women and girls in vital areas. It often begins in the home. In most cases the husband�just because he earns the money to run the home�plays a domineering or authoritative role and takes important decisions on his own. Wife beating is another matter. Spirituality tells us that the husband and the wife should play an equal role in decision making and other matters. more..

Feb 5 (DM) This column has for the past three weeks been focusing on the abortive Coup d��tat conspiracy of 1962. There has been much reader interest in the articles. I have been pleasantly surprised to receive a lot of responses ranging from persons related or connected to some of the coup suspects to people from different walks of life evincing much interest in an important event in Sri Lanka�s history. more..

Feb 5 (GV) A nation was promised vistas of prosperity and splendor and about 6.9 million voters opted for it, subsequently providing a two third parliamentary majority to implement the vision. A little over two years later, the reality is experienced by everyone � shortages of everything from cooking gas to milk powder and foreign exchange to crude oil and the resulting power cuts. There is little need to expound at length the economic, social and pain that the populace is experiencing. more..

Feb 5 (CT) Not long ago, the people of Sri Lanka looked up to the IGP to present public explanations pertaining to police action related to alleged or threatened breaches of the law. In these times, the minister in charge of public security, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, acts in reverse. For even with respect to nuts and bolt issues in law and order administration minister Weerasekera speaks up. Minister wants to be the public face of the SL Police Force disregarding head of that force-the IGP. more..

Feb 5 (CT) Last Sunday morning Prez Rajapaksa telephoned Minister Prasanna Ranatunga to inquire into the Covid-19 situation in the Gampaha District and measures being contemplated towards tackling it. �Prasanna it seems that the public in general are not overly enthusiastic about getting the booster vaccine. Many in Gampaha District have also not shown any tendency to get booster jab,� Prez said. more..